Follow Your Dream

     Carrie always felt responsible for her mother's health, not because she caused her pain, but just that she felt if she wasn't there, maybe her mother would die.  Her older sister left for college and never turned back.  Sure Laura comes home for a week here and there, but even when she returns, she's meeting up with friends or shadowing doctors and planning her future.  Carrie looks up to her sister, always proud of her accomplishments and yet feels she and her mother have been abandoned by her too.
     "Carrie, where's my pill," she hears pain in her mother's voice and runs to get the nitroglycerine tablets.  Her mother must be having chest pains again.  As she watches her mother put the tiny pill under her tongue, she too relaxes when she sees the creases lining her mother's forehead and framing her eyes begin to relax.
     "Oh thank you Carrie, that wasn't too bad.  I'm much better now."
    " Mom, I'm setting you up with another doctor's appointment," Carrie told her mother.
     "No, her mother replied  "he's just going to say the same thing.  Diet and exercise, diet and exercise for you, but you know Carrie, we all die.  I'm not afraid of that."
     " Yea, but you can try to live a healthier life, couldn't  you?  You have to eat what I cook for you."
Carrie pleaded.
     "Hey Carrie," her mother's voice had already changed the subject, "did you call Aunt Doris?  She's a college advisor you know.  You're a junior now, you have to start thinking about where you want to go and she might be able to help you get a scholarship.  You're such a good student," Mother beamed.
     "I was thinking I could just go to junior college first, I really don't know what I want to do," Carrie said.
    "Ok, but you think about it," mother said as she rested her head back, feeling tired again.
     Carrie felt tired too.  She went into her room and stared at the ceiling.  She then noticed something swinging on the fan above her bed.  First she thought they were spiders, but when she stood on her bed, she noticed they were little beans.  When they started to talk she felt dizzy and sat back down. They jumped on her shoulder and Hope-BeaN whispered, "Calm down, we're here for you.  We're BioBeaNs and we're looking for compassionate smart kids to not lose hope or direction.  The world needs you."
     "I haven't lost hope.  I'm hoping everyday that my mom won't have a heart attack.  I buy healthy foods for her to eat and try to get her to walk, but it's so hard.  I never lose hope though," she countered.
     "I'm not talking about the hope you have for your mom, I'm talking about you," Hope BeaN said smiling.
     "But don't you think she needs me," Carrie whispered.
     "She's told you to go away to college, she wants you to follow your dreams," Hope BeaN reminded her.
     "But what if she dies when I'm away," Carrie said, her own heart aching.
     "Carrie, if you trust me, I can show you what's inside your mom.  This can help you to see, she won't die of her disease yet.  But I can't guarantee she won't get in an accident or die in some other way.  But this is true for everyone.  You can't live your life wondering 'what if' Carrie.  This is your time, right now is your time and your mom knows this too.  Don't give up your dreams," Hope BeaN insisted.
     "Well I'm very curious, how do I see she's OK," Carrie asked.
     A wind whipped up through Carries room as the BeaNs jumped in her ears and took her into the fray where she began to shrink to the size of a blood platelet and in a weird out of body transcendent moment, she was in her mom's superior vena cava.  She moved down into the right atrium of her heart and looked down, seeing the inferior vena cava.  Everything looked pretty clear with just a little plaque build up.  She glided down to the right ventricle and into the pulmonary artery to the lungs.  Here she felt energized as oxygen filled her heart.  From there she went to the left atrium then through the mitral valve into the left ventricle.  Her ride speeded up with a large push as she sped through the aortic valve then spinning through the aorta and traveling at breakneck speeds throughout her moms body. Carrie kept her eyes open and observed that there were no large clots anywhere in her mother's circulatory system.
     When they returned back to the fray, Hope BeaN indicated her mother's angina (heart pain) was mild and could be controlled with medication.  It's just that her sedentary lifestyle causes stress in her body and this stress is causing her not to want to move then her pain begins.  It's not a good cycle but it is one she can get out of if she chooses to.
     Carrie began to cry and asked, "Am I the reason she's in this cycle?  Am I enabling her?"
     "No Carrie!  Your mom is an adult and makes her own choices.  Please don't take on so much responsibility for her yet.  Someday you may need to come back and help her, but not today.  Today you need to listen to your heart for direction," Hope Bean said.
     They all returned to Carrie's bedroom and the BeaNs smiled at Carrie.  "You will always be a wonderful daughter.  Just because you're going forward with your dreams doesn't mean you can't call your mom and share your journey with her.  It might just inspire her to follow her dreams too," Hope BeaN encouraged.
     Carrie felt free for the first time in a long time, a little afraid, but hopeful!

BeaNspiration:  Don't be a worrywart!

A Moral Dilelmma

     David was sitting on his bed in the graduate school dormitory contemplating quitting the prestigious genetics program he had been in for the past year.  Fascinating as it was, ethical questions ate away at him and his confidence had been shattered by the competitive nature of some of the professors and the brilliance of his classmates.  How did I even get in this program, he wondered?
     As he held his head in his hands, he felt something flicking the back of his neck.  Worried that they were mosquitos, he began swatting at them.
     "Stop it!" the small creatures yipped.
     Startled, David looked up and saw two small flying BioBeaNs.
     "Oh, I've finally cracked," David sighed.
     "No, David.  Don't be startled.  We're BioBeaNs and we're from a different dimension.  Just call me Phil and this here is Lil' Phil," Phil said as an introduction.
     "Why are you here?" David asked.
     "We don't think you should quit.  The world is coming apart between our two dimensions and the energy web has frayed.  We BioBeaNs need to work with humans to save our planet."
     "Well there's so many people smarter than me and definitely more sure of themselves than I am, so you're better off asking any of them to help you."
     " No David.  Your classmates have a lot to offer and can definitely help too, but you David, you are meant to lead," Phil declared.
     "What are you talking about?  I'm the most unsure one of my group.  I'm torn apart by whether the genetic engineering we're attempting is right.  Sometimes I feel like splicing out and splicing in genes is playing with the master plan, if there even is a master plan.  See, I have no knowledge of truth and my conviction sways.  I have questions but no answers," Phil acknowledged.
     "This is why we need you David.  We BioBeaNs have a lot of knowledge but we don't have imagination or much of a questioning ability, " Phil responded.
     "I guess you can say we see the trees, but not the forest," Lil' Phil added.
     "You David, you see everything.  When we were looking at your class, most are thinking just of themselves or their research project, but you David, you are looking at everything and trying to see how it will affect the whole world.  You raise questions that need to be heard.  Stay in the program, learn more and share your confusion.  It's important!"  Phil BeaN pleaded.
     David stopped for a moment, in that very moment. For the first time it was clear to him...EVERYONE is important.  His contribution was just as valid as the #1 spot candidate Sarah Burton.  He would continue to pursue his education.  He knew he had an affinity to the subject and he remembered, how even in high school when students complained it was too complicated, he loved that. It made it even more miraculous in his eyes.  Just the idea that mutations, linkages and all the complicated mechanisms for replication, transcription and translation even existed at all, showed him how amazing life is.  He needed to tear this apart, understand it, and present it to the world.
     The BioBeaNs were happy they convinced David to continue.  They left David energized and ready to contribute ethical evaluation to the study and implementation of genetic research.
   

You are Important!

After the Storm

Hana from the story "Rain" writes a poem.

After the Storm

Three times today

I was blown away

by the beauty of the clouds

Nothing else could make me

feel closer to the

spirit of the earth

I spy the Komodo dragon

It cannot hide from me

Or the leaping frog

Yet...

no one seems to notice

Those ancient Greeks and Romans

surely never let the work 

of their Gods go unnoticed

BeaNspiration:

Take time to make observations!

Pollen

Happy Spring from the BioBeaNs!!!!!!!!

Pollen

The Bio BeaNs are playing among the pollen today!

Hope you all enjoy some time with family this weekend too!

If you ever have time to look up pictures of the different kinds of pollen out there, the diversity and beauty are amazing.  And each type has a different mode of transportation.  Some travel by wind, others by insects and birds.  Each type is here because they are successful on earth.

 We live in such a miraculous world! 

Pollen Princesses

Walking home from school, two sisters walked through the mountain path towards their home.  The older girl, in a scolding tone, reached out to tell lil' sister to stop playing.  "We have chores and homework waiting for us, let's go,"Bree warned.

"You're not a grown-up Bree, why don't you know how to play?" Dani whined.

"Just come down off that rock.  Mama will be so mad at me if you fall off there.  It's always your fault and I get in trouble," Bree scowled.

"Let's pretend we're pollen princesses, floating around the world," Dani said as she began twirling around on the large boulder.

"Be careful!"Bree warned.

"Owwww" Dani yelled, "there's something flying around my head flicking me."

"Get down now!" Bree said sternly.

"Owwww my eye!  It stung my eye!" Dani cried.

Bree clamored up the rock and over to Dani, like she always did when Dani cried.  No matter how much her sister annoyed her, how mad she was, she couldn't bear to have Dani sick or hurt.  "What's wrong?" a frantic Bree asked.

"Nothing, really.  My eye's ok, I just didn't think you'd come up here if I didn't say that."

Now Bree was so angry she could push Dani off that rock.  But just then, small insects or something began pelting her face.

"She just wanted you to see us," the BioBeaNs shouted.

"What are you?" Bree asked shocked.

"We're Pollen-BeaNs.  We were just playing around moving the pine pollen from tree to tree.  If you come to the fray with us, we might be able to make you small enough to play with us and help push the pollen to other trees," the pollen-BeaNs replied.

Bree hesitated, but Dani said, "Yes, I'm in".  The Pollen-BeaNs jumped in Dani's ears and off she went.  Bree shouted, "Where'd she go?  I have follow my sister," and the BeaNs jumped in her ears and she took off too. In the fray, the pollen-BeaNs had discovered a way to make humans shrink, just like they could do.  It was called linkage.  The BeaNs could link up, one bean to one human and just like that the human could take any form they imagined, just like the BeaNs did.  Once they were small, they set out into the world with the BeaNs. They saw thousands of male cones on a large pine tree.  The dry flaky pollen began to disperse.

 Soon the sky was filled with pine pollen.  Each pollen grain had two air bladders.  "These air bladders help the grains fly on the breeze," Bree explained to Dani.

"You're so smart Bree!  Let's go check out the pollen on those flowers over there," Dani sang out as she impulsively flew toward a large rosemary bush.

"Don't go there," Bree said as Dani flew toward a flowery bush filled with bees.  They were so small and the bees were twice the size of Dani and Bree.  "Stay calm.  If you thrash around the bees may feel threatened and attack," Bree told Dani as they backed away. A giant bee flew by them just as the pollen-BeaNs reached the girls and guided them back to the pine tree.

"It's safe here since pine pollen doesn't attract insect vectors. A pine tree is a conifer or cone bearing plant so there's no flowers on it.  Sometimes bees may build a hive on a tree branch but these don't have a hive on them," a small Pollen-BeaN explained.

"So why aren't there bees here?" Dani asked, still confused.

"I learned in class that flowers are what attract insects and bird pollinators.  The pollen is on the anthers, which is the top part of the male organ of the flower, called the stamen.  White flowers usually have more scent.  The scent or the bright colors is what the bees, butterflies and birds use to attract them to the flower. I noticed bees were always on the rosemary flowers. These bees are picking up  pollen and taking them from flower to flower.  This pollinates them bringing the pollen to the female organ of the flower called the pistil.  Once pollination occurs you can get seeds forming." Bree was sharing the information she learned in class the day before.

"Wow," said Dani, "I'm so glad you know so much.  You saved me," Dani smiled at her big sister.

The two girls played on the pine pollen grains for a little while longer but then Dani decided they should head on home.  Bree had a wonderful time playing with the pollen-BeaNs and Dani realized how important it can be to study and know things like her big sister.  The pollen-Beans agreed, "Finding a balance between play and work is the best thing to do."

BeaNspiration:  Make time for work and play!

A Conversation with Photo BeaN

Epilogue:

If you haven't read least week's blog "Exploding Chloroplasts", read that first.  This is a conversation with Josh, the younger brother in that story and Photo-BeaN, one of the BioBeaNs who led Josh and Justin on their adventure.  This conversation takes place after "Exploding Chloroplasts".

A Conversation with Photo-BeaN

     As Josh sat doing his homework, he felt like giving up.  After his adventure with the BioBeaNs, he aced his school biology test on photosynthesis.  But now they were learning about cellular respiration and it was just too hard.  Josh put his head on the desk, contemplating how bad it would be if he just gave up.  Suddenly he felt a familiar "flick" on the back of his head and heard a small voice shouting "Snap out of it!"
     Josh lifted his head and asked,  "Hey, Photo-BeaN,  can you jump in my ear and zap in the info about respiration into my brain?"
     Photo-BeaN laughed and said, "No, sorry, there's no crisis now and if I zapped all my knowledge of everything into you, you'd become like me, and the world needs variety."
     "What does that mean?  It would be wonderful if everyone was as smart as you," Josh replied.
     "Josh, why do you think we needed you and your brother?" asked Photo-BeaN.
     "You probably don't," Josh sighed then asked,"Why  didn't you BeaNs just jump in and fix the chloroplasts yourself since you know everything."
     "Josh," Photo-BeaN replied, "there's different ways to be smart.  BioBeaNs have a lot of information; but, sometimes we become paralyzed with what to do because we see too many choices.  You Josh, you can see the path that needs to be taken much more clearly than I."
     "So you actually needed me?" Josh was feeling better.
     "Yes," Photo-BeaN acknowledged, "and I still need you to be your best and most creative, so you have to keep learning.  You learned a lot about photosynthesis , not just because we put the information in your head.  We didn't tell you what to do, you figured that out.  How did you do that Josh?" Photo-BeaN asked.

     Josh closed his eyes and remembered...

         "I saw the lemonade-berry plant, the leaves, then I focused in and magnified the image until I saw the plant cells and chloroplasts.  I felt wavelike particles of light hitting the leaf, entering the chloroplasts and the process of photosynthesis hummed like a song in my mind.  Then, I saw the broken chloroplasts.  I was visualizing this in my mind and could feel the tear.  I felt myself touching the thylakoid membrane and the stroma (fluid) seeping out of the chloroplasts.  The chemical energy produced in the thylakoid had no where to go, because the Calvin cycle took place in the fluid called stroma.  I knew no glucose was being produced and if this problem was not contained from spreading to other plants, our planet would die..." Josh opened his eyes.
     "Oh Josh, then you deployed us to fix the tear and we contained it.  Josh, you are remarkable!" Photo-BeaN beamed.
     Josh began to believe in himself.  He realized that information was important, but he also knew creativity was needed to know what to do with all that knowledge.  He felt his creativity soaring.
      He went back to his studies.  Respiration could be fascinating too, since it was the process that went hand in hand with photosynthesis.  Photosynthesis needs respiration, respiration needs photosynthesis...one process is not better than the other.  We need both for life on earth to exist.  Maybe he would be needed someday to help with cellular respiration in the cell.  His creativity and imagination went into high gear!

BeaNspiration:  Keep wondering about the world!

prefixes
epi - upon, over
photo - light
chloro- green
syn- with, together, fusion